Connect The Speakers; Calibrate Your Speaker Levels - PRESONUS MONITOR STATION - V1.0 User Manual

2.1.5 Connect the speakers

1) "Zero" the Main level knob by turning it fully counterclockwise.
2) Connect your primary monitoring system (such as a pair of nearfield reference monitors) to the Left
and Right outputs of Speaker A.
[Optional]:
3) Connect your secondary monitoring system (such as a pair of reference monitors of a
different make or model) to the Left and Right outputs of Speaker B.
[Optional]:
4) Connect another secondary monitoring system (such as a pair of large studio monitors
or subwoofer) to the Left and Right outputs of Speaker C.

2.1.6 Calibrate your speaker levels

The essential purpose of speaker calibration is to ensure a specific metered audio level (typically 0 dBVU)
equals a certain acoustic level (measured in dB SPL) in your studio environment. Depending upon the
method and reference levels used during calibration, proper calibration can help reduce unwanted noise,
minimize the risk of damage to your speaker cones and to your ears, maximize the reference capabilities of
different speaker types and ensure you and/or your listeners are hearing the audio as the engineer intended.
There are many different methods for calibrating studio monitors. The methods discussed here should not be
only
misconstrued as the
different gear, clientele and audio mixes may ultimately benefit more from one of the many other methods
available. PreSonus does not suggest the calibration methods provided here are in any way the best or only
recommended methods of calibration when using the Monitor Station. If you wish to calibrate your studio
monitors using a different method, we encourage you to do so.
Every calibration method has something in common, though: test tones. The most commonly used test tones
are 100 Hz, 1 kHz and 10 kHz sine waves, 40-80 Hz and 500 Hz -2.5 kHz bandwidth-limited pink noise and
20 Hz - 20 kHz pink noise and white noise. Test tone CDs can be purchased from your local electronics or
entertainment retailer or downloaded off the Internet from a variety of free Websites for use in many
calibration and testing procedures. As a less technical, more subjective and not otherwise ideal alternative,
the chorus of a modern commercial Rock song can be substituted for full-bandwidth pink noise.
When calibrating reference monitors in a studio, the acoustic level or sound pressure level (SPL) should be
measured from the mix position at seated ear height. The SPL meter should be held at arms' length with the
microphone pointed at the center point between the left and right speakers, angled at 45 degrees to ensure an
accurate reading. You should also calibrate the left and right monitors independently; pan the test tone hard
left, calibrate the left monitor, then repeat for the right channel.
When monitoring systems are calibrated using the same method, each system should generate the same
acoustic level when given the same input source. This is especially important when referencing your mix on
different monitoring systems (such as toggling between Speaker A and Speaker B for comparison), because
in an incorrectly calibrated studio, the acoustic level will "jump" when toggling the different systems.
(For example, when calibrated properly, playing an audio through Speaker A then turning Speaker A 'OFF'
and Speaker B 'ON' should not cause a change in level – though it may result in a slight tonal variance due to
the different acoustic properties of the monitoring systems.)
OPERATION
best
method or even the method, because different studio environments with
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